Say Something
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: I was listening to 'Say Something' by A Great Big World and this one-shot popped into my head. Basically Regina is involved in an incident and Emma is at her bedside. Not a happy story. At all.


_Summary: I was listening to 'Say Something' by A Great Big World and this one-shot popped into my head. Basically Regina is involved accident and Emma is at her bedside. Not a happy story. At all. _

_I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes. Italics are flashback. Hope you like it :)_

The monitors beep.

There's the drip from the wires.

There's the haunting sound that silent tears make with their very presence.

Otherwise nothing is said for what words can heal a breaking heart?

To Emma none. The only words that can fix this are the ones that will no longer tumble from the red lips she adores so much. She traces her thumb over the scar that hovers over an upper lip. She runs her finger along the curve of those lips. She takes a few seconds to stare, fixated, at those beautiful lips which she caressed and kissed, which she loves and prays for them to part.

They don't.

Her eyes scan up to the soft curls she loves to run her fingers through on lazy afternoons. She takes another moment to do it once more. Only this time there are no contented sighs or smiles when she does.

Emma takes in every small detail of Regina's face, every little inch of her. She had never loved like she loves Regina. Neal was her first love but he was not Regina. With Regina her love was all consuming. She loves every part of her, every aspect, every freckle, everything. Without her the world doesn't make much sense.

Without her she feels like she knows nothing at all.

Regina is her world. Her home. With Regina she found everything she wanted. For once, Emma felt like she had the answers to questions she had never dared to ask. They completed each other in every way fitting together wordlessly as if it were simply destiny. Everything about Regina felt right in her arms. There was no clumsiness or awkwardness, not even in the beginning. They just knew how to fit together.

Now all Emma can do is take a limp tan hand still stained with blood and wish she could do something.

She can't.

That thought hurts her more than anything. The love of her life is here and she can do nothing. They spent so long fighting against and later for each other. They spent to so long just trying to be happy and learning to love.

_"I love you," Emma freezes as the words slip from her lips in the dusky haze of Regina's room. They had just finished a round of sex and were simply lying together when the words tumbled free. She means them. She was just waiting for the right time to say them. She wonders if there is ever a right time or if there is simply a time when you have to say the words. _

_Regina's eyes widen before she looks at Emma, her face a myriad of emotions, "You what?" she asks. _

_"I love you," Emma repeats. She frowns as she sees a tear slide down Regina's cheek. "What's wrong?" _

_Regina shakes her head more tears spilling free. She tries to stifle a sob with her fist but fails before disentangling from the sheets and running into the bathroom. _

_Emma's frown deepens. She didn't know what to expect when she confessed her feelings but she never though Regina would run from her. She moves to the bathroom which the brunette has locked. Emma sighs before grabbing a bobby pin from Regina's nightstand and using it to unlock the door. She opens it and finds Regina sitting on the floor with her head on her knees. She walks over kneeling down next to Regina and lifting her head. "Say something." _

_Regina sniffs back another sob, "I don't know how to love very well." _

_Emma nods, "Okay." _

_"I've been a bad person for so long. How can you love me?" _

_"Because I know you. I know Regina and you aren't a bad person anymore. You haven't been for a long time. I know you say you don't know how to love very well and I think a part of you believes it too but trust me Regina you do. Every day that we're together you're loving and trust me you know how to love." _

_Regina smiles, "I do."_

_"You do what?" _

_"I love you," Regina says, "And I'm going to learn how to do it well." _

_Emma smiles pulling Regina into her arms before giving her a slow loving kiss, "You already know how." _

Emma cries at the memory. It took them both a while to learn how to love and to realise that with each other they already knew how. It took them both so long to find happiness.

She can't believe it would end so soon.

She needs more time. She needs Regina to live but she knows deep down that she's already going, she's already leaving her and there's nothing Emma can do. God she wishes there was. Everyone always tells her she's the saviour and yet right now when the person who she loves most it she cannot do the saving.

No-one can.

All she can do is let go.

And that breaks her already fractured heart.

She can still remember getting that phone call. Emma doubts she'll ever be able to forget that split second when she picked up a phone and her entire universe changed. When she got that emergency call she ran to the scene but it was too late.

She was too late. They all were.

She can here Regina's voice echoing in her ears on that last phone call, _Emma I love you so much. If I don't make it out just know that I love you so much._

In the end she didn't make it out.

A damn convenience store robbery. Emma can't believe it. Her Regina, a woman who had faced so much and beaten Peter Pan, destroyed the undefeatable and always come back to her and Henry, was lost to her because of something so simple.

In the end though she was a hero. She always wanted to be and she tried her best. When the guy shot and the bullet went in the direction of their son Regina didn't hesitate before stepping in the way and saving Henry.

Emma kisses Regina's knuckles, "You were a hero honey. You always were. You saved him. I want you to know that because I know you can still hear me. You saved him. I'm so sorry." Emma sobs as she apologises.

The second she got to the store she knew she was too late. She knew it when she saw the guy handcuffed in the backseat. She knew it when she saw her father standing there looking more devastated than she's ever seen. She knew it in her son's sobs.

She knew it but she didn't believe it until she saw her.

Until she saw Regina lying on that shop floor looking as if she had simply fallen asleep. Except she was in a grocery store atop a pillow of red.

Emma ran to her but it was too late. She didn't get there in time. Part of her knows she couldn't have but right now all she can think of is that she wasn't there and now everything she once knew was lost.

She doesn't know what to do with herself. She know she should go home to her son and her parents and let them hold her as she cries but she cannot leave. She cannot leave yet because her home is going somewhere she cannot follow.

_"Would you go to Paris?" Regina asks as she eats her ice-cream. This is a game they play. They imagine a life where they could cross the town border without consequence and travel anywhere they wanted to. It's a silly game but they both like to play from time to time just to imagine seeing the world together. Emma likes to play along with Regina because she knows sometimes her girlfriend wonders what the world is like. _

_One day Emma vows to take her to at least some of these places Regina talks about as if they were a paradise. _

_"I would go to Paris," Emma replies nabbing a spoonful of Regina's ice-cream. _

_Regina pouts at her before swiping a spoonful of Emma's and sticking her tongue out. She laughs, one of Emma's favourite sounds in the world, before asking, "Would you go to London?" _

_"Of course I would." _

_"Would you go to Tuscany?" _

_"I would." _

_Regina smiles, "Where would you go?" _

_Emma shrugs before grinning up at her love, "I would follow you anywhere Regina and I promise one day I'm going to show you that world you dream of." _

Only now she'll never get the chance. She won't follow Regina this time. She can't because she has to find a way to remain in this world without the brunette. She has to find a way to survive. She has to find a way to raise their son.

She thinks of moments. Of Henry's graduation. Of him going to college. Of his wedding. Grandchildren. All moments they were supposed to face together.

Emma's lost track of the tears dribbling down her face. She doesn't think they'll ever stop. How can they? Regina is her light, her other half. Without her Emma simply feels incomplete. When she thinks of her family she simply cannot imagine Regina not being there.

They promised each other forever and always and Emma knows she'll keep that promise because she will love Regina for the rest of her days. She knows that one day whilst she cannot follow Regina today she will see her love again. Just not in the way she wants to most.

She just wishes she didn't have to do this.

She's not sure she can summon the words to say goodbye.

She can't imagine going to bed without the warm weight of Regina in her arms. Or going to a movie and not having Regina there to watch it with her. Her life is full of Regina. She thinks of all the little things they do and wonders how she's supposed to do those now. Every action, every memory is tinged with her love and now with her loss.

She sobs again as she leans over Regina.

"I wish I didn't have to do this. I never thought I would have to do this. Regina you're my everything and I wish, I wish with everything I have that I could keep you here. I wish that I could hold you so tight that you couldn't leave me but I know, oh god, I know that I have to let you go. I know if you could you would stay with me forever and I know you will because you Regina will always be with me. I'm letting you go and saying goodbye but you will never leave me. You always be a part of me and I will love you forever. I know I will."

She sniffs back a sob daring to hope for just a moment that maybe this isn't her life. She closes her eyes tight and hopes that this is just some horrible nightmare and that she will wake to find Regina smiling at her and telling her she loves her.

She opens her eyes to be met with reality and she cries before sucking in a deep breath. She can see her tears drip down onto cool cheeks and wipes them away. She kisses Regina one last time before resting her head against Regina's.

"You're the one I love," Emma says tearfully as she gently caresses Regina's face, "And I'm saying goodbye. God I wish you would say something. I really don't want to have to give up on you. I'm not sure I can but I know I have to. No matter what happens Regina I just need you to know that I love you. I love you so much."

_Emma runs towards Granny's knowing Regina will be there. _

_She just travelled back in time and then back home. She finally saw what she had been missing all this time. She met the Regina of the past. She met the Evil Queen and suddenly in Emma's head it all clicked. _

_Her mind flashed with images of the women she knew, of her son and of them all together and just like that she knew. She had been talking about escaping to New York and trying to find a home when it was right in front of her all along. _

_She lands outside Regina's vault and immediately starts running. She had denied the truth far too long and she can be silent no longer. She has to say something. She has to say something before it's too late. She knows that Robin has been flirting with Regina and she doesn't want the brunette to give up on her. She has to say something. _

_She bursts through the doors of the Diner and scans the room for Regina. _

_She smiles as she finds her leaning against the wall watching her son and the new baby. Her breath catches as she sees the beautiful brunette and she know she's falling deep. She knows it's now or never. Suddenly Regina looks up at her and this time she sees it. She sees what she never saw before. _

_She walks over before taking the plunge and kissing Regina hoping it conveys everything she wishes her words could say. They kiss for several moments before they part. She looks into sweet caramel eyes that stare at her in wonder. Say something Emma prays. Finally Regina grins at her before simply saying "Hey."_

Silence.

* * *

_Thanks for reading :) _


End file.
